HISTORY
PRE-COLONIAL BURMA
294
AD 754
Nanzhao soldiers
from Yunnan, China,
conquer the hill tribes
in the upper reaches of
the Ayeyarwady River
and challenge the Pyu
who ruled from the
city of Sri Ksetra.849
Bagan is founded on
the site of a once-
thriving Pyu city;
its fi rst name may
have been Pyugan,
something recorded
200 years later by the
Annamese of present-
day Vietnam.1044
Anawrahta slays his
brother, takes the
throne in Bagan and
starts organising his
kingdom to kick off the
‘golden period’ of the
First Burmese Empire.1057
Having subdued
the Shan Hills,
Anawrahta’s armies
sack the ancient Mon
city of Thaton and
bring back 30,000
people to Bagan,
including the Mon
king, Manuha.failed ‘Saff ron Revolution’) and its inaction following Cyclone Nargis in
2008, the worst natural disaster ever to befall the nation, have caused it
to become even more despised and feared.
Elections for a civilian government in 2010 and the release of Aung
San Suu Kyi from house arrest have provided a glimmer of hope for
some. But for others it’s just business as usual in Myanmar, with the
military as much in control as it has been for the past half century.Pre-Colonial Burma
The Earliest Inhabitants
Archaeologists believe humans have lived in the region as far back as
75 ,000 BC. The limestone Padah-Lin Caves in western Shan State con-
tain paintings that could be 13,000 years old, and there’s evidence that
local farmers had domesticated chickens and made bronze by 1500 BC.
At least 2500 years ago, the area was a key land link between traders
from India and the Middle East and China. Ancient Greeks knew of the
country too.
In 2003 the BBC reported the fi nding of a 45-million-year-old fossil (pos-
sibly the anklebone of a large ape-like animal) in central Myanmar that
might just prove the area to be the birthplace of alll humans. The implica-
tion of this research, written up in an academic paper by paleontologist
Laurent Marivaux of the University of Montpellier II, is that our primate
ancestors may have had Asian rather than African origins. Not surpris-
ingly, the military government was happy to embrace this interpretation.The First Burmese Empire
Bagan was nearly 200 years old when its ‘golden period’ kicked off –
signalled by an energetic, can-do King Anawrahta taking the throne in- His conquest of the Mon kingdom and the adoption of Buddhism
inspired a creative energy in Bagan. It quickly became a city of glorious
temples and the capital of the First Burmese Empire. For more on the
history of Bagan, see p 150.
Anawrahta’s successors (Kyanzittha, Alaungsithu and Htilominlo)
lacked his vision, and the kingdom’s power slowly declined. In 1273 King
Narathihapate made the diplomatic mistake of off ending the growing
power of Kublai Khan by executing his envoys. When the Mongols in-
vaded in 1287, Narathihapate fl ed south to Pyay (Prome) where he com-
mitted suicide.
In the ensuing chaos, Shan tribes (closely related to the Siamese) from
the hills to the east grabbed a piece of the low country, while the Mon
in the south broke free of Bamar control and re-established their own
kingdom.
Remembered as
Tayokpyay Min,
or ‘the King who
Ran Away from
the Chinese’,
Narathihapate
was also known
for his glutton-
ous appetite,
demanding 300
varieties of dishes
at his banquets.KING